Podcast Episodes

Buddhist chants and Ibiza trance: A Spanish boy’s odyssey

Osel Hita Torres was a Spanish toddler when he was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of a well-known Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher called Lama Yeshe. As a child he was sent to a m…

Published on 1 year, 4 months ago

The Lost Boy: A never-ending journey, part 2

At the age of 11 in 1985, Salva Dut was separated from his family by the Sudanese civil war. After a decade moving between different refugee camps, and presumed an orphan, Salva was recommended for r…

Published on 1 year, 4 months ago

The Lost Boy: A never-ending journey, part 1

Salva Dut is one of Sudan's so-called 'Lost Boys.' Separated from his family at the age of 11 when the civil war reached his village in 1985, Salva walked for weeks to reach safety in a refugee camp …

Published on 1 year, 4 months ago

Britain’s infected blood scandal, my quest for the truth

In the early 1980s Jason Evans' father was given a blood product called Factor 8 to treat his haemophilia, which infected him with HIV. He was one of thousands of people in the UK who were unwittingl…

Published on 1 year, 5 months ago

The family hiding in the bush after leaking Russian secrets

Nick Stride said too much about his former boss, one of Putin’s closest allies.

Nick Stride, a builder from the UK, feared for his family’s safety after discovering alleged financial corruption while…

Published on 1 year, 5 months ago

'It's much easier for them to create a spy than catch a spy'

Anoosheh Ashoori was visiting Iran when he was snatched off the street by security forces. He was falsely accused of espionage, and spent years in one of the country's toughest prisons.

For a long ti…

Published on 1 year, 5 months ago

Dead Man Walking: The US nun who took on the death penalty

When Sister Helen Prejean agreed to write to a convicted murderer on Louisiana’s death row in 1982, she had no idea what was coming. She would end up becoming his spiritual advisor, eventually accomp…

Published on 1 year, 5 months ago

My father Faiz: Pakistan’s revolutionary poet, part 2

Salima Hashmi is a pioneer of political satire on Pakistani TV. But after the dictator General Zia took power in the 1977 military coup, she faced new and dangerous challenges when her show was banne…

Published on 1 year, 5 months ago

My father Faiz: Pakistan’s revolutionary poet, part 1

Salima Hashmi grew up in Lahore witnessing the radical poetry of her celebrated father, Faiz Ahmed Faiz. It inspired her own path into art and performance, creating Pakistani TV’s first ever politica…

Published on 1 year, 6 months ago

The man who finds water in the desert

Alain Gachet quit a lucrative career in oil to search for water underground. Colleagues told him he was a 'crazy donkey', but he eventually developed an algorithm that allowed him to 'peel the earth …

Published on 1 year, 6 months ago